Woodson was skeptical about switch to safety

Jan. 17, 2013

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The move took some coaxing, but Charles Woodson eventually bought into the idea.

A 15-year veteran and eight-time Pro Bowl cornerback, the 36-year-old Woodson wasn’t always thrilled with the idea of switching to safety and forfeiting his perch as an every-down cornerback in the Green Bay Packers secondary.

Following a seven-week trial run before breaking his collarbone in an Oct. 21 win over St. Louis, however, that's the role Woodson primarily operated out of when he returned after a 10-week hiatus.

Originally tabbed to play the slot cornerback spot in the nickel defense, the Packers chose to keep Woodson paired with third-year pro Morgan Burnett at safety and keep promising rookie Casey Hayward in the slot.

As Press-Gazette reporter Pete Dougherty wrote today (http://tinyurl.com/adjztwq), the Packers will have to make a difficult decision in the offseason in regards to Woodson, who is due a $3.5 million roster bonus in March and carries a $6.5 million price tag for 2013.

Whether or not Woodson is back will be determined in the weeks that follow, but the original question has been solved – the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner is willing to accept a role at safety.

More importantly, it's a position Woodson has the capability to thrive at in the eyes of Packers safeties coach Darren Perry despite his limited engagement there in 2012 due to the collarbone.

“I think initially he was a little skeptical and wasn’t as fired up about the move because I don’t know if he looked at it as a positive for him personally in terms of skill set,” Perry said.

“But I think once he accepted that role and realized it wasn’t a knock on him, but just a way for us to get our best 11 out there. I think once he realized that and really bought into the position, I think he was on track to have a solid season with that new position that he hadn’t played for his whole career.”

The Packers hoped to have Woodson back during the regular season, but his broken collarbone wasn’t cleared by team physician, Dr. Patrick McKenzie, in time as he finished with 38 tackles, 1½ sacks and one interception.

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Woodson's contract runs through the 2014 season and he expressed desire throughout the course of the season to remain in Green Bay, his NFL home since 2006.

However, the Packers' two safety prospects - M.D. Jennings and Jerron McMillian - come at a much cheaper price tag, a little more than $1 million combined next season.

The Packers are high on both player's potential with coach Mike McCarthy and Perry both feeling Jennings became more assertive in place of Woodson as the season wore on while McMillian showed his physicality as a dime cornerback.

The one spot that will remain a fixture is the third-year safety Burnett, who played more than 1,200 snaps this season with 123 tackles, two sacks and two interceptions.

Only 23, Burnett has worked alongside a number of different safeties during his first three NFL seasons, but seemed to be build chemistry with Woodson at the time of his injury.

But will it continued in 2013?

“I think it took a little time,” Perry said. “But I think the more they played – it’s just unfortunate that Wood had to go out with the injury because I thought they were starting to get comfortable with one another. Then, in comes another guy with M.D. and J, so you have to kind of work around that and you’re kind of feeling your way through.”-whodkiew@greenbaypressgazette.com and follow him on Twitter @WesHod.